PERSIMMONS

Gradually the persimmon season is getting under way.  We now have most of the varieties to offer.

From top left in the photo :  Hachiya, Fuyu, Maru, Nagamaru, and Coffee Cake (Nishimura Wase).  From bottom left:  Hachiya, Sliced Fuyu, Sliced Maru, and Hyakume.

Other fruit we have to offer are jujube, quince and Asian pears.  

As tomatoes and cucumbers slow down we are beginning to plant winter veggies.  Broccolini, kale, komatsuna, arugula and lettuce seeds are being placed in their new beds.  Onions are starting in plug trays.  Meanwhile we are waiting for the winter squashes to mature so they can be harvested.  That will allow us to use their space to plant other winter vegetables.  So stay tuned.

      Hours

Tues through Sat  10:00 to 6:00

Sunday            11:00 to 5:00  

Closed on Monday

Here is what we have at the Farm Stand from Otow Orchard.

VEGETABLES:

Winter Squash:  Delicata is a cylindrical winter squash. It's ribs are yellow, green and/or orange.  Skin is thin and edible.  Flesh is sweet.  Can be steamed, baked, roasted, or added to soups.

Tomatoes: Small red slicers and salad tomatoes.  These fresh, sweet tomatoes are great for salads, sandwiches, and pizza.  The smaller ones and blemished ones I use in stew and soup.  Sometimes I just bite and add salt. (Limited supply.)

 

Sakura Cherry Tomatoes:  Large, sweet, red cherry tomatoes.(Limited supply.)

Sungold Cherry Tomatoes:  Bright yellow orange cherry tomatoes known for their bright fruity flavor. A summertime favorite on our farm. (Limited supply.)

Basil:  Fragrant and flavorful.  Can be used in salads, sauces and pesto. 

Zucchini:   (Limited supply.)

Asian Cucumbers:  Burpless, seedless and thin skinned cucumbers.  Refreshing, crisp, and tender.  Eaten as a summer snack, or added into salad or pickled.  Great flavor. (Limited supply.)

Can cucumbers have fun?

 

Eggplant: The oval shaped eggplants are Italian varieties.  The long skinny ones are the Asian varieties. The shiny skin is deep purple, purple or purple striped. Flesh is creamy white and tender usually with tiny edible seeds. When cooked the flesh is rich, meaty and takes on cooking flavor. Eggplant are versatile and can be baked, sauteed, grilled or roasted. Popular dished are Eggplant Parmesan, Baba Ganoush or Ratatouille. 

Okra:  Small finger shaped green vegetable.  Mildly flavored with a slimy texture when cut.  Delicious when young ones are eaten raw. Cooked, they can be fried or added to soups and stews.  I enjoy slicing and mixing them with egg and cornmeal. Then I fry them as patties. (Limited supply.)

 Chili:

Jalapenos:     Spicy green chiles for adding flavor.

Habaneros:    Spicy green or yellow chiles. 

           Shishito:  Spicy or not it is just a guess. Eat them fresh or saute them in olive oil with salt.  (Limited supply.) 

FRUIT:

 

PEARS: 

 Asian Pears: 

Shinko:   Large brown-skinned Asian pear.  Sweet flavor, juicy  and crunchy texture make it our most popular pear.

Yali:  Beautiful pear-shaped yellow Asian pear. These pears are sweet, juicy and have tender flesh. 

Olympic:  Very round, brown-skinned Asian pear.  It is crisp, juicy, sweet, and has a nice crunch.

 

APPLES: 

Red Delicious:  At Otow Orchard this variety is usually a striped red apple. Nonetheless, it is crisp, juicy, sweet, and refreshing.  Has a welcome fresh-off-the-tree taste. (Limited supply.)  

JUJUBE:  These little fruit are often called red dates or Chinese dates.  Some people prefer to eat them when they are crisp and yellower. Others wait for more brown or all brown skin to appear.  They start out crisp and begin to get sweeter and sweeter.  They are also enjoyed soft, chewy, and wrinkly. When very dry they are often added to soup for add sweetness and flavor. Fresh jujube have the texture of a sweet dry apple.  These are often eaten as an easy snack but watch out for the seed.

 

 GRAPES:                  

Kyoho:  Large dark skinned sweet grapes. These grapes have both seeds and flavor.

 PERSIMMONS:

Maru, Nagamaru, Coffee Cake:  These persimmons  are brown fleshed when pollinated.  They are sweet and can be eaten hard  or softer.  For the novice, our recommendation is to cut the persimmon to see the sweet brown flesh before biting into the fruit.  Usually less than half of the persimmon is yellow fleshed and not edible.  Nagamaru is also known as Tsurunoko or Chocolate.  Coffee Cake is also called Nishimura Wase. These are chocolate persimmons because of the color, not because of the flavor!

 

Clockwise in the photo: Hyakume (cinnamon), Nagamaru (Tsurunoko, or Chocolate), Coffee Cake (Nishimura Wase), Maru.  Sliced Maru with brown sweet flesh and a bit of yellow puckery flesh.  Sliced yellow-fleshed Fuyu. Fuyu, Hachiya, almost soft Hachiya.

 

Hachiya:  These are tall, orange, acorn-shaped persimmons that cannot be eaten till soft as pudding in a bag.  They become soft, sweet and juicy. It was suggested that you bite a little hole in the skin and suck out the contents for a sweet treat.  Watch out for the seeds.

Hoshigaki :  These are whole dried persimmons.  They are hand massaged while they dry over a period of four to eight weeks.  Some are firm, others are soft and moist.  All are coated with naturally formed white persimmon sugar.  No sugar added and no preservatives used. We strive to make the best hoshigaki without any shortcuts.  This takes time and attention during the drying season.  We are currently selling hoshigaki at the farm stand. For on farm orders of more than 1 pound it is best to email or call us to make a pre order.  For mail orders, please see our web site in mid October for an updated order form.

Persimmon Pulp: Frozen pulp is available for baking or adding to oatmeal, smoothies, desserts or cereal. Some of our customers look forward to eating it like a popsicle!

 

POMEGRANATES: 

White Pomegranates :  It probably has a proper name, but the name has been lost since it was planted over a century ago.  We love this yellow-skinned variety because it is all sweet and the arils have a small edible core.

QUINCE:        

 Ancient fruit in the pear apple family.  It has a lot of pectin often used to thicken or gel sauces.  It is firm, fragrant and tart.  Usually cooked with a sweetener.  Traditionally used for jelly, paste and candy (Dulce de Membrillo).  I usually make quince sauce or add it to applesauce. Quince is often paired with pork dishes.

 

Local Honey  Honey 🍯 from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard. Bee pollen from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard is also available.

 

⚘ Calendula  Salve and Lip Balm:  Wonderfully thick salve for healing dry skin, bug bites and scrapes.   

Here is what we have from other producers: 

Eggs:  La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis. Fresh🥚 eggs from pastured 🐔🐔chickens. (Limited supply.)

Red cherry tomatoes:  Kijani Farm in Granite Bay.  Grown by organic practices. (Limited supply.)

 Butternut squash:  Kijani Farm in Granite Bay.  Grown by organic practices. Sweet, nutty orange fleshed winter squash.  Roast, bake or mash and add to soup or casseroles. (Limited supply.)  

 

 

PEACHES, PLUMS, PLUOTS AND NECTARINES

It's a mystery.  I don't know why but we have decent looking nectarines this year.  Not a lot, but more than usual.  Flavortop and Fantasia are both yellow fleshed with great taste.  Heavenly White is a white fleshed nectarine with great flavor.  Hope you have an opportunity to get some before they are gone. 

We are harvesting mid season peaches at the beginning of July.  There is already color appearing on late season peaches.  I get the feeling that the peach season will likely end early.  Please make note.

During the 50's, 60's and 70's, our farm, along with many farms in Placer County, was busy growing plums as a summer crop.  Plums were harvested, sorted and packed into crates on our farm.  At the end of the day, the crates were delivered to a fruit shed in Loomis.  The fruit shed sold our plums to Colorado, Boston, Chicago, and New York markets. Today, the farm stand is filing up with many different varieties  of plums, some I don't have room to display.

Tomato season is just starting.  Cherry tomatoes are coming off the vines and we are getting a few slicers every day. There is a good supply of basil, cucumbers and squash.  Okra and eggplant are starting  to come in. The last harvest of potatoes will happen this week.

 

 

 

      Hours

Tuesday through Saturday           10:00 to 6:00

Sunday                                         11:00 to 5:00  

Closed on Monday

Here is what we have at the Farm Stand from Otow Orchard.

VEGETABLES:

Zucchini:  Green and yellow summer squash fresh out of the garden.  Tender green squash with white flesh. Great for sauteing, boiling, steaming, baking, roasting and adding to soup, stew and stir fry.

Asian Cucumbers:  Burpless, seedless and thin skinned cucumbers.  Refreshing, crisp, and tender.  Eaten as a summer snack, or added into salad or pickled.  Great flavor.

Slicing Cucumbers: Fresh, green cucumbers to add to your summer salads. 

Sakura Cherry Tomatoes:  Large, sweet, red cherry tomatoes
 

Sungold Cherry Tomatoes:  Bright yellow orange cherry tomatoes known for their bright fruity flavor. A summertime favorite on our farm. 

Basil:  Fragrant and flavorful.  Can be used in salads, sauces and pesto. 

Potatoes:  Youkon Gold potatoes.  Moist and flavorful potatoes with slightly yellow flesh.  These potatoes have thin smooth skin.  Great for roasting, boiling and frying.

Chard:  These greens are tender and tasty. Great for sauteing or adding to soup, casseroles, omelets, and stews.

Eggplant:  Both Asian and Italian eggplants will soon be available.

 

Okra:  Small quantities of okra will soon be available. 

FRUIT:

PEACHES

Gene Elberta:  Yellow freestone peach. Sweet and very  juicy.  Great for fresh eating, baking, and canning.

Loring:  Yellow freestone peach. Sweet and juicy. Used for fresh eating, baking, and canning.

 49er:  Yellow freestone peach with smooth texture. Sweet and juicy. Used for fresh eating, baking, and canning.

Summerset:    Yellow freestone peach with smooth texture. Sweet and juicy. Used for fresh eating, baking, and canning.

Fay Elberta:   Yellow freestone peach with smooth texture. Sweet and juicy. Known for its "melt in your mouth texture". Used for fresh eating, baking, and canning.

White Peaches:  

        Opale:  Firm white, freestone peaches.  They are low acid, sweet and tasty. Enjoyed when firm and crisp or soft and juicy.

        Silver Logan:  Soft fleshed, white, freestone peaches. They are juicy, sweet, low acid and high in flavor.

        Bowen Cling Peach:  This is not a freestone peach.  It is a cling peach.  The flesh  clings to the pit. Bowen peaches are firm and sweet. Juicy but not as juicy as a freestone peach. They are delicious eaten out of hand. These are sturdy peaches often used  in processing: canning, and baking.  Since the canneries closed down last year, many orchards of cling peaches were taken out.   

PLUMS

Santa Rosa: Very popular and very tasty.  Known for their sweet tart taste and amazing flavor and fragrance.  Great for fresh eating as well as for jams.

Black Amber:  Dark skin over amber red meaty flesh.  Sweet tart flavor and fragrant. Key ingredient for Black Amber Plum pie.

Mariposa :  Red fleshed with mottled purple skin.  Sweet and juicy, and flavorful. Great for fresh eating, baking and preserving. Semi freestone.

Eldorado:  Small dark-skinned plum. Sweet even when firm. Freestone. Used for fresh eating, baking and canning.  

Laroda:  Large flavorful dark-skinned plum. Sweet and juicy with a background of tang.  Great for fresh eating, preserving, and dehydrating.  

Kelsey:  Yellow-fleshed, green-skinned plum.   It has well balanced sweet/tart flavor.  It is juicy. Can be eaten fresh or used for canning or dehydrating.

Friar:  Dark-skinned, yellow fleshed sweet plum with great fragrance and flavor. Small semi-freestone pit.

Elephant Heart:  Large, red-fleshed plum.  Heart shaped with mottled skin.  Sweet and juicy with good flavor.  Used for fresh eating, baking and jams.

PLUOTS

Dapple Dandy:  Sweet, firm pluot with good flavor.  Dappled purple and pink skin with pinkish flesh.

 

Flavor Grenade:  Egg-shaped pluot with green-yellow skin with a reddish blush.  Most enjoyed firm ripe with a crisp texture.  Outstanding sweet flavor.

 

Flavor Jewel:  Firm light yellow pluot with red highlighted skin and shiny yellow flesh.  Eaten crisp with very sweet taste.   

 

BLACKBERRIES:  These thorny vines produce a sweet and tart mixed basket of wild berries.  Intense berry flavor with earthy sweetness. 

 

NECTARNES

Flavortop:  Red and yellow skinned nectarine with intense sweet-tart yellow flesh.  Delicious.

 

Fantasia:  Yellow skinned nectarine with red blush.  Yellow, sweet tart flesh.  Great flavor. 

 

Heavenly White:  White and red skin over white juicy flesh. Sweet-tart aromatic flavor.   

Hoshigaki :  These are whole dried persimmons.  They are hand massaged while they dry over a period of four to eight weeks.  Some are firm, others are soft and moist.  All are coated with naturally formed white persimmon sugar.  No sugar added and no preservatives used. We strive to make the best hoshigaki without any shortcuts.  This takes time and attention during the drying season.  We are currently selling hoshigaki at the farm stand. For on farm orders of more than 1 pound it is best to email or call us to make a pre order.  

Hoshigaki strips:  Thin slices of hoshigaki for snacking.

Persimmon Pulp: Frozen pulp is available for baking or adding to oatmeal, smoothies, desserts or cereal. Some of our customers look forward to eating it like a popsicle!

 

Valencia:  These are juicing oranges but most people just peel and eat like any other orange. They are sweet and very juicy.

Local Honey  Honey 🍯 from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard. Bee pollen from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard is also available.

 

⚘ Calendula  Salve and Lip Balm:  Wonderfully thick salve for healing dry skin, bug bites and scrapes.   

Here is what we have from other producers: 

Sunnyslope Farm in Granite Bay, is again bringing us conventionally grown, beautiful peaches.

     Suncrest :  Yellow freestone peaches.  These are sweet, juicy and very flavorful peaches.  The book Epitaph for a Peach, by David Mas Masumoto was written about harvesting Suncrest peaches. (Limited supply.)

Eggs:  La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis. Fresh🥚 eggs from pastured 🐔🐔chickens. (Limited supply.)

Onions:  La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis.  Red, Yellow, and White onions grown with organic practices. 

 Rio Red Grapefruit:  Stoney Point Farm in Loomis,(Organic certified). These large grapefruit are juicy, sweet and red fleshed. Low in bitterness.

Red cherry tomatoes:  Kijani Farm in Granite Bay.  Grown by organic practices. 

 

Buttermilk Nectarine Upside down cake

 

MULBERRY SEASON HAS STARTED

 More produce is showing up sooner than I thought.  Maybe this will be an early year for summer fruits.  We have started to harvest peaches, plums, pluots and apricots.

   Winter vegetables are still with us as we get summer veggies planted.  I found that it is a bit tricky planning to put several crops into the same ground in succession.  For example, the row that was producing radishes and turnips last month are now planted with tomatoes.  And because we grew lettuce in  a different spot, we were able to plant eggplant.  And since seed potatoes arrived late we have to find a new place for the chili peppers.  

 

As we get more supply, the slow season hours will extend to later in the afternoon.  Look for the "OPEN / CLOSED" signs at the entrance to the driveway. 

SLOW SEASON HOURS 

February to mid May:

Tues, Wed, and Thurs:  11:30 am to 1:30 pm

 Fri and Sat:  10 am to 6 pm

 Sunday                   CLOSED

 Monday                 CLOSED

You may request an appointment if you need a different time We will try to accommodate. Call my mobile phone and LEAVE A MESSAGE.  (916) 300-0720.

Here is what we have at the Farm Stand from Otow Orchard.

VEGETABLES:

Komatsuna:  Tender leafy green vegetable, thought of as a Japanese spinach.  Taste is more like bok choy, mild with slight mustard flavor.  Can be added to salad, stir-fries, and soup. 

 Beets:  Vibrant red and healthy root vegetable. Often boiled, roasted or pickled.  Can also be eaten raw.  The leaves are also desired for saute, and adding to soups and stews.  

Carrots:  They are NOT big, long and tough 🥕.  The carrots are tender, slender, sweet and tasty.  

 Salad Greens:  We have a tender mix of leafy green and baby romaine lettuces.

Sugar Snap Peas:  Fresh, crisp, and juicy. These sweet and crunchy peas can be enjoyed raw or gently cooked. Can be used for garnish.

 Broccolini:  similar to broccoli but milder and sweeter.  The florets  leaves and stems are all edible in stir fries, sauteed, grilled, steamed, roasted, and raw.

FRUIT:

Flavorrosa pluot:  Early, dark skinned pluot with red flash. It has a sweet fragrant flavor (limited supply).

Royal Rosa apricot:  This early season apricot is tasty, sweet and juicy (limited supply).

Loquat:  This early season tropical fruit is sweet and refreshing.  It is small and juicy with sweet mild flavor.  Texture is similar to ripe pears.  Contain a large seed.

 

Spring Rose white peach: Small but amazingly tasty, sweet and juicy peach (limited supply).

Red Beaut plum:  Early season plum. Juicy and yellow fleshed (limited supply).

Pakistani Mulberries:  Long stemmed, dark mulberries.  They are sweet and juicy (limited supply).

Hoshigaki :  These are whole dried persimmons.  They are hand massaged while they dry over a period of four to eight weeks.  Some are firm, others are soft and moist.  All are coated with naturally formed white persimmon sugar.  No sugar added and no preservatives used. We strive to make the best hoshigaki without any shortcuts.  This takes time and attention during the drying season.  We are currently selling hoshigaki at the farm stand. For on farm orders of more than 1 pound it is best to email or call us to make a pre order.  

Hoshigaki strips:  Thin slices of hoshigaki for snacking.

Persimmon Pulp: Frozen pulp is available for baking or adding to oatmeal, smoothies, desserts or cereal. Some of our customers look forward to eating it like a popsicle!

 

Valencia:  These are juicing oranges but most people just peel and eat like any other orange. They are sweet and very juicy.

UME:  Japanese Sour plum. (Limited supply). Processed with salt, alcohol or sweetener.

Local Honey  Honey 🍯 from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard. Bee pollen from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard is also available.

 

⚘ Calendula  Salve and Lip Balm:  Wonderfully thick salve for healing dry skin, bug bites and scrapes.   

Here is what we have from other producers:

Arrow Place, Auburn, No spray.

Meyer Lemons:   These sought after lemons are less acidic than regular lemons. They have a thin peel often used for its fragrant zest.  Meyer are rounder than regular lemons with a dark yellow skin.

La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis is bringing us fresh🥚 eggs from pastured 🐔🐔chickens.

The California Persimmon:  A book published by the ANR covering history and background of persimmons. Contains many new and traditional persimmon recipes.